President Trump Shaking Things Up

By Zyra Puni, Writer | February 14, 2025

Target location shown against the backdrop of recent moves to remove their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policy. Photo courtesy of Associated Press Images.

With Trump being back in office, he's definitely shaking things up already according to the opinions of many Americans.

One of the latest orders he's been putting a lot of attention towards is removing DEI Policies nationwide. DEI stands for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion-a set of policies and practices that aim to create a more welcoming and inclusive society.

President Trump signed Executive Order 14173, or, better known as “Ending Illegal Discrimination And Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity”, on January 21, 2025. According to The White House, this order instructs all executive departments and federal agencies to “terminate all discriminatory and illegal preferences, mandates, policies, programs, activities, guidance, regulations, enforcement actions, consent orders, and requirements” and further orders all federal agencies “to combat illegal private-sector DEI preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities.”

In the past, many corporations including Target, Walmart, McDonalds, and Google

used DEI policies in their work environment. However, since Trump has put this order into effect, these same companies and several others have scaled back or eliminated their DEI initiatives.

With this order being put into effect, observances such as MLK Day, Black

History Month, Pride Month, and Holocaust Remembrance Day are on pause.

“We’re supposed to be heading towards progress and celebrating our uniqueness and now it’s just reversed. It’s really disheartening, and I feel like multiculturalism is just going to decrease from here,” said Carson High School teacher Ms. Bulosan.

Some have even questioned the motives behind such an order.

“No, not one of them, nothing that he campaigned for is actually being put into effect, like promising the prices to go down, so no. No to everything, especially slashing public programs, like taking out a lot of the funding [for] education, healthcare, research, cancer research and also firing the people that work in our national parks, which I love national parks, so no, I don’t support any of his stuff right now,” said Ms. Bulosan.

“I feel really disheartened by the pause on these important days like MLK Day, Black History Month, Pride Month, and Holocaust Remembrance Day because specific communities are all about remembering their history, acknowledging struggles, and ensuring we don't forget the lessons we learned," said CHS senior Jordan Cruz. "It feels like a step backward, and it's hard not to be upset when it seems like we're losing ground in terms of inclusivity and awareness."

One of the biggest issues that President Trump may face is the belief that he is acting in a racist manner which is only fueling the fire more.

"These kinds of orders are not racist. People are trying to spin it to say that the President is purposefully trying to leave people out. It is more about people getting jobs when they are not qualified," said CHS junior Johnny Atuatasi.

It is important to acknowledge the other side of this issue and why some people appreciate the president's efforts. By Trump putting this executive order into effect, it takes away the upper hand minorities have had when it comes to employment opportunities in some cases, and it brings back merit-based qualifications.

Although difficult, this is a change that needs to be made even if a lot of Americans are not ready to see. Many are all for diversity, inclusivity, and equity but DEI shouldn't be prioritized when it comes to

employment opportunities or college acceptances.

Ultimately, Trump is bringing back merit-based opportunities, and this shouldn't be a problem when you have the qualifications needed in the first place.

Again, to reiterate, everyone should prioritize diversity, inclusion, and equity in the workplace, but it shouldn’t be the top priority. In the end, if we keep taking this kind of approach, where one group of people have the upper hand, whether it's whites or minorities, we'll never reach our full potential as a country.

Still, in regard to the pause on these special observances, this is something that didn't need to happen. DEI Policies are heavily flawed but that doesn't change the fact that all of these special observances acknowledge specific groups of people who deserve to be celebrated and honored.